Monday, December 12, 2011

12/12/11

Noon Position 30 14' S, 115 25' W, SOG 5.3, COG 155, Days Run 130nm, Weeks Run 1015nm. It's a good end to a good week - Once again, the fastest week yet, averaging just over 6 kts, with a two real quick days. Yesterday was gorgeous high pressure weather - clear skies, hot and sunny, with just enough wind to keep sailing with the drifter up. Sunrise is early this far south - it's fully bright by 5 am, so yesterday morning I decided to go up the rig to do a quick survey before we get into the 40s, and to investigate my non-functional anchor light, which also doubles to light up my windex at night. About halfway up I realized that the swell had built a bit since I woke up, and that instead of being perfectly smooth, we were now rolling into 1-2 foot seas - not much, but amplified to the end of a mast 55' off the water there was quite a bit of motion. The trip was successful, although my legs and arms are complaining stridently today about the abuse meted out upon them. I'm now about 2400 miles from Cape Horn, a similar distance as from California to Hawaii. I've been taking advantage of the good weather to work on boat prep for the southern ocean, but I've also been reading a lot - I try to stay out of the sun as much as possible during the day, so odds are good that during the middle of the day I'll be found hunkered up down below with my kindle. I have a few different waterproof cases for my kindle, thanks to Len Edgerly, who does the Kindle Chronicles podcast. I'm currently using a Klear Kase - it's a royal pain to put onto the kindle, but because you can access the power switch and data port with the kindle still in the case. It also is the easiest to manipulate the little joystick with. It seems like it's more of a splash proof than a waterproof case, but for now that's all I need it for - just to keep the occasional dribble from the hatch off of it. I may switch over to a beefier case in the southern Ocean if I end up with a lot of water around. I'm reading a few different books at once - I'm working my way through the Essential P.G. Wodehouse, and interlacing some sci-fi from Baen publishing's free online library of ebooks. I've been trying to throw in a few "classics" here and there as well - I ended up really enjoying Les Miserables, despite the painfully slow start to the book.